"Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40:31 NASB

In the last couple of devotionals we talked about being weary and being also full of vigor yet stumbling. Today lets look at a key word that has little liking in today’s society. The word is 'Wait'. "Yet those who wait for the LORD..." is the instruction we get here in this verse. No one likes to wait these days. We’re so much in a hurry that we live in the 'want it now' environment. Even waiting one minute for food to heat up in the microwave can seem like forever. So here in this verse we are told to do something that we really have forgotten about or have maybe never even known.

We need to wait on the Lord to renew our strength. For some waiting might seem almost impossible. So much so that many pray and then after a short time has passed say, "He did not answer my prayers." We need to learn to wait on the Lord with patient trust relying on His strength. Especially when we are weary, weak and running on fumes. We need to get our gas tanks filled up to the top so we can be restored and usable again for His kingdom. That means we need to slow down and simply rest in the Lord.

The Hebrew word for wait is qavah (kaw-vaw') and means to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect. KJV uses it as: gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon) (1). It also means to wait or look eagerly for, to lie in wait for, to wait for, linger for or to collect (2). Waiting on the Lord gives us hope and an expectancy of His presence to be poured into us. When we wait on Him, He will always be faithful to meet us where we are and right on time.

Too often we want to rush ahead and not give time to wait on the Lord. Truly waiting on His presence is an awesome thing. He meets us in ways we never dreamed. In this verse the very first thing we get when we wait on the LORD is new strength. How many of you right now could use new strength? How many of you feel like the battles of life have wore you down? The first place to start is by devoting time to wait on Him, in Him and by Him. Waiting on the LORD requires more than a two minute prayer offered up.

It is more than just opening God’s word randomly; reading a verse and then closing it and thinking you were in His word today. No, it is a time that you get alone, get quiet in the total solitude of His sweet Holy Spirit. It is a willingness to open your heart to His healing touch that begins to fill you with His joy. It is an open heart that listens intently to hear the very God of the universe speak His still soft voice to you through His word. King David knew this kind of waiting. In Psalm 25:5 it says, “Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, For Thou art the God of my salvation; For Thee I wait all the day (NAS).”

Again in Psalm 27:14 it says, “Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD (NAS).” Charles Spurgeon in regards to this Psalm says, “Wait at his door with prayer; wait at his foot with humility; wait at his table with service; wait at his window with expectancy (3).” So today take a little time and wait before the table of the Lord. He has a meal for your soul that fills any hunger you might feel. He will strengthen you with all that you need.

Waiting on Him,
Adam

Notes:
[1] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary (OT:6960). Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[2] The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (OT:6960), Copyright (c)1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.
[3] C. H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David (Psalm 27:14), Clapham, December, 1869.